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Spinnova and Adidas: What Happened to the Investment
Back in 2021, Adidas became a cornerstone investor in Spinnova’s IPO, backing the Finnish company’s wood-fibre textile technology as part of its own sustainability push. The two companies’ joint venture, Woodspin, opened its first factory in Jyväskylä in 2023, and Spinnova’s revenue climbed fast in the year that followed.
Since then, the picture has become more complicated. Spinnova’s partner Suzano pulled its funding for Woodspin in early 2025, and Spinnova’s revenue for that year dropped by roughly half. Rather than winding the venture down, Spinnova bought out Suzano’s stake in the Jyväskylä plant for a symbolic €1 and took the project fully in-house, now rebranded Spinnova Refining. In my experience following Nordic industrial start-ups, this kind of ownership consolidation is often the more telling signal than the headline funding numbers — it shows a company betting on its own technology rather than exiting.
As of spring 2026, Spinnova is running trial production at the demo plant, aiming to resume larger-scale output later this year, with an eye toward licensing its fibre technology to industrial partners rather than manufacturing at scale itself. Commercial technology-sale revenue isn’t expected until 2027–2028.
Business Travel in Finland
Stories like Spinnova’s are part of why Finland remains a serious stop for international business travelers — a small, export-driven economy where engineering credibility and long-term partnerships matter more than flashy pitches. We cover the practical side of doing business there — Helsinki’s trade fair scene, Finnish negotiation style, and how executives combine meetings with Nordic downtime — in our full Finland Business Travel Insights guide.
Explore all our travel guides: 37 Europe Travel Guides · Finland
Lassi Pensikkala is a Finnish economist, entrepreneur, travel expert, and international business consultant with experience in tourism, destination management, cross-cultural business development, and international partnerships.
He studied Economics, Psychology, and Sociology at the University of Hamburg and worked professionally in international tourism already during his university years.
In 1989 he founded a Destination Management Company (DMC) in Germany, later serving more than 700 B2B clients from 55 countries and participating in major international events, trade fairs, congresses, sports events, and executive travel programs.
His work today combines:
• International business consulting
• Europe–Latin America cooperation
• Travel publishing
• Golf and lifestyle content
• Insurance and risk-management consulting in Ecuador
He is multilingual and works in English, Spanish, German, Swedish, and Finnish.
Beyond international business and travel, golf is an important part of Lassi Pensikkala’s international lifestyle. As a passionate golfer based in Samborondón, Ecuador, and active at the Guayaquil Country Club, he also shares golf lifestyle and international golf insights through AmerExperience.
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